Hunting: Sharing the wildlife wealth

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Wade Heaton remembers when the deer grazing on his family's ranch on the Paunsaugunt Plateau were viewed as vermin, competitors to the cattle that supported his family.

But the tide has turned. Now it's the deer putting food on Heaton's table. And that doesn't mean venison for dinner every night.

The transformation began in the early 1990s when Utah wildlife officials decided to revamp an old program that allowed landowners to hunt big game on their own property. The result was the Cooperative Wildlife Management Unit (CWMU) program, which allows landowners to obtain and sell hunting permits for mule deer, Rocky Mountain elk, moose and pronghorn. To qualify for the hunting tags, though, landowners have to provide equal opportunity for public hunters.

"When I was in high school the sentiment among landowners and ranchers was 'us against the wildlife.' We hated deer and elk. They destroyed fences and hung out in alfalfa fields. We wanted them gone," said Heaton, 36, who now runs an outfitting business on the popular 43,407-acre Alton CWMU in southern Utah. "It is kind of amazing to listen to landowners now. They talk about ways to help wildlife thrive on their land and they get really passionate about it."

That's what the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) hoped for when it converted the old Posted Hunting Unit program into the CWMU in the mid-1990s.

The change was pursued for many reasons, but the overall idea was to give wildlife -- which is owned by the state -- on private property a value to landowners and, in turn, give the public access to that wildlife.

"Wildlife resources are held in public trust. It is the responsibility of every citizen of Utah to care for wildlife. Wildlife is also a resource every citizen of the state gets to share in," said Rick Danvir, who helped bring about the CWMU program as a member of the Utah Wildlife Board. He is also the wildlife manager of the largest CWMU in the state, the Deseret Land and Livestock Ranch.

"The other truth is that the landowner bears a lot of the responsibility of providing the habitat for the animals and there are some costs associated with that. This partnership is the compromise. The people who own the wildlife have a chance to partake and the landowner has a chance to partake and derive revenue."

Wildlife officials say the 104 active CWMUs in Utah make up more than 2 million acres of land that the general public would otherwise be unable to use. There are more than 3,200 overall big game permits available for CWMUs this hunting season and about 14 percent of them are available only to Utah residents.

Some people criticize the idea of allowing landowners to keep revenue from selling the hunting tags. A lawsuit filed in 1996 sought to keep the program from allowing public land to be included in CWMUs in some cases. But the money raised from the permits has allowed some families to hold onto ranches, which saves open space.

"There have been a couple of years where the cattle market was pretty tough. Monies from the CWMU program kind of helped keep those ranches afloat," said Heaton.

Driving the grounds of the 215,477-acre Deseret Land and Livestock Ranch, where he manages wildlife for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Danvir tells the story of a local rancher.

"He told me he had tallied the financials for his sheep operation. And, after selling the wool and lambs and paying the herders, his net revenue was $13.58," Danvir said. "He said the sheep managed his ground and paid for themselves, but that it was the money from wildlife income that allowed his family to eat."

The CWMU program can also boost the local economy when hunting tags are allocated for previously closed property. Danvir said that during hunting season, as many as three dozen outfitters are used on Deseret. The ranch also hires cooks and cleaning staff for the lodge, security officers to patrol the property, and a packer to help move harvested game.

Landowners can use permits they get from the DWR however they want. Some share them with family and friends, but most are sold.

An average elk rifle permit at Deseret typically costs $14,000 and includes lodging, meals and a guide. A rifle deer permit on the Alton CMWU runs about $15,000 and also includes lodging, meals and some guiding.

Those numbers make public hunters lucky enough to draw a free permit on those units (in 2007, public odds for an elk tag on Deseret were about 1 in 75 and 1 in 41 for a buck permit on the Alton), worry about how they'll be treated next to someone who can pony up thousands of dollars.

That criticism has been leveled since the program's beginning. Heaton, the current president of the Utah Cooperative Wildlife Management Association, admits that some landowners involved in the CWMU program may be a partial to hunters who purchase rather than draw a permit. But by and large, he said, public hunters are given the same opportunities, and even the same accommodations.

"Guys call and they say "I don't want to get in the way of your paying clients,' " Heaton said. "I tell them 'Listen, without you public guys there wouldn't be any paying guys. We go out of our way to make sure the public hunters leave happy and many times they leave with the biggest bucks."

Public hunters who feel they were poorly treated can complain to the CWMU Advisory Committee, which can put landowners on probation or even remove them from the program.

Public hunters are required to fill out a hunter satisfaction survey about their experience. In years past, those interested in applying for a CWMU permit could call the DWR and ask for information regarding different units, including the overall satisfaction rating from previous hunters. But last winter the state launched a Web site -- http://wildlife.utah.gov/cwmu" Target="_BLANK">http://wildlife.utah.gov/cwmu/ -- that includes all the vital information.

Bryan Paul of Bountiful wishes he had done more research before he put in for and drew an elk permit to hunt a northern Utah CWMU in 2000. He also wishes he had known he could air his grievances so other hunters wouldn't suffer the same experience.

"I put in for it because the odds of getting a permit were good. I should have known that was an indication of the way it would be," said Paul, who had to ask twice if he could scout the property and then was told where he should hunt. "They crammed the public hunters in at the end of the hunt and I had to miss the [general season rifle] deer hunt. The bottom line is I could have been successful, but I never saw an animal I thought was worthy of what I thought was supposed to be a special unit. One of the other reasons I picked this unit was because I knew somebody who did buy a tag there before and got a nice 6X6 bull. I only saw one 4-point and spikes."

Paul ended up spending the final days of the hunt with another public hunter looking for bulls and complaining about the situation. He said he understood that unit is now being operated by new outfitters.

"I would have called if I had known my complaint would have meant anything," he said.

Danvir says most CWMU operators recognize the value of the bonus points public hunters sacrificed as part of the draw system to get the tag. But no hunt is a sure thing.

"CWMU permits give hunters a chance to experience a quality hunt by controlling the number of hunters and increasing the chances of seeing animals," he said. "You will have a great chance to harvest something, but it doesn't mean you will shoot the biggest animal in the woods."

Boyde Blackwell, who oversees the CWMU program for the state, said most issues have been ironed out.

"We have reached a point where we won't see many more CWMU units than we have now. Most landowners who meet the requirements are already involved," he said. "Our overall goal will continue to be making sure the public hunters get the opportunity mandated by the program. We will also continue to work with landowners to enhance their property for all wildlife."

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